onsdag 15 januari 2014

Securing regrowth

BoW camp 2013, with Maja and Micke.

These days, one of my primary motivations for making period clothing is the opportunity to dress up my kids. The thought itself is more appealing than the actual work, since I hardly ever get around to it, but I really, really hope that I will be able to bring them to events when they are a bit older, not just right now when they're more like two very demanding pets that incidentally share my DNA.

I want to offer them this very special playground, with its own kind of enchantment, and I hope that they will approve of it for a few years before they initiate the mandatory revolt against dorky parent business and immerse themselves in team sports, things the old people Just Don't Get, and far cooler online games than those their parents play.

Wheeeee!

Today I do many things that I would have loved to do when I was maybe, like, five years old. Or fifteen. They just weren't available to me then, and it has taken me a long time to find them in the form of re-enactment. The crafting, the fighting, the learning process and the very special form of hanging out with others of a similar disposition makes me more enthusiastic than almost anything else (except maybe the 15th century books at the library where I work). I envy the kids I meet who are growing up inside the hobby. Sure, it probably has its measure of shame at some point, but still, what fifteen-year-old wouldn't like to get a proper sword for her birthday?

It was hard work bringing my son to Battle of Wisby 2013 as I was going alone and was 7 months pregnant. But it was worth it. If we have the opportunity to do the event again, I will make sure to bring him back, as I would have loved to go there myself when I was a kid (as I do now). Next time he will hopefully have grown into the hat.